Guides
Rock festivals and national parks share a wild historyRock music and protected wilderness have a tangled, sometimes combative, sometimes beautiful relationship. For decades, organisers have coaxed amplifiers into…Why the acoustic guitar still rules unplugged sessionsStrip away the amplifiers, pedalboards and studio polish, and the acoustic guitar still commands attention. Its wooden body, ringing strings and human-scale…The best rock songs about freedom and the open roadThere's something primal about a roaring guitar and a long stretch of asphalt disappearing into the horizon. For decades, rock music has captured that feeling…How a Broken Amp Forged the Sound of a Rock LegendRock history is littered with happy accidents, the kind of equipment failures that should have ended a session but instead rewrote the rulebook. Producers have…A debut single revives Southern rock with honest gritThere is a particular guitar tone that sounds like an old Holden ute bouncing down a corrugated road outside Tamworth, and the debut single from Outlaw Town…Rock legends: the greatest albums that started as self-released gemsThe romance of the self-released rock album has always captivated music fans. There's something undeniably heroic about a band pressing their own vinyl and…Why the 1970s Sparked the Golden Age of Rock Concept AlbumsThe early 1970s marked a profound shift in rock music. Until then, albums were afterthoughts built around hit singles and filler. By the middle of the decade,…Turn It Up: Rock Songs for Restoring a Vintage MotorcycleThere's a particular alchemy that happens when you prop up a carburettor on the bench, crack open a tin of degreaser and let a familiar riff roll out of the…The Day Johnny Cash Bought a Ghost TownThe story sounds like a perfect rock-and-roll fable: Johnny Cash, already a global star, discovers a deserted Tennessee settlement, buys it, and turns its…The Strange Electric Voice Behind Classic RockBefore synthesisers became familiar fixtures on rock stages, the theremin offered musicians something genuinely uncanny. Its pitch and volume are controlled by…